Apparatus for controlling the operation of shears.



. v. .E. EDWARDS.-

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF SHEARS.

APPLICATION FILED APII. l5 I9I'4.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- vIcToR E. EDWARDS, OF wORCEsTER, MA'ssACH-UsETTs, nssrenoR To MORGANCONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OFMASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF S HEARS.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR E. EDWARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in anApparatus for Controlling the Operation of Shears, of which thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accom-' panyingdrawings, is a specification.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for efi'ecting theintermittent operation of a shear of the type employed in rolling millsto cut the finished product as it- A second ob ect conslsts 1n theprovision of means instantly adjustable for varying the length of thebillets cut by said shear in order to insure the production, from anygiven bloom, of billets of a uniform len h, between twenty-seven andthirty feet, without the formation of a short; and a third object is toprovide means for readily re: 'moving the crop end of the rolled productprior to the division of the same into billets,

without waste of materiaL. v

In the accompanying drawings, I Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sideelevation of the apparatus forming one embodiment" of my invention,certain parts being shown -1n section.

. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the apparatusshown inFig. 1. Like reference characters are used to designate like parts inthe different figures. Referring to-Fig- 1'. there is shown at 1, 1 thelast three sets of reducing rolls of a rolling mill, with a billet or.bloom A passing therethrou'ghin the direction of the arrow, in theprocess of reduction toa finished bar .or rod B. The finished productBis conducted from the final fimshin roll 1- over a seriesiof conveyerrolls 2. n the" space Specification of Letters Patent.

. tion within a suitable casing havin Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

Application filed April 15,1914. Serial No. 832,056.

between two conveyer rolls 2 and preferably close to the last finishingroll 1, there is erected a flying shear 3 1n the path of the moving bar,adapted when actuated, to shear the bar vpassin between its cuttingblades. Any form 0% flying shear may be employed; I have illustrateddiagrammatically, for example, the type of flying shear disclosed inLetters Patent No. 505,512,

- granted to me September 26, 1893, but it is to be understood that thepresent invention is not limited to the use of a flying shear of thistype.

I have also shown at 4 a steam or com pressed air cylinder, the lattercontaining a piston connected to a reciprocating cross head 5, which isconnected by rods 6, 6, to the reciprocating shear blade of the flyingshear, all as substantially shown and described in my aforesaid LettersPatent. The

exhaust of pressure medium from the under side Ofthe piston in saidcylinder 4 effects the downward and*forward movement of the shear 3 tooperate upon the moving bar; the restoration of pressure below saidpiston effects the return of the shear to its initial tion upon thebarB.

I have indicated diagrammatically at 7, valve mechanism adapted tocontrol the exhaust and inflow of pressure medium from. and to the underside of the piston in order to operate the shear as above described. Iprefer to employ valve mechanism such as is disclosed in Letters PatentNo; 787 ,32 1,

granted to Elbert H. Carroll, April 11, 1905, although it is obviousthat any other valve mechanism adapted to give the same results positionin preparation for the next operawithrespect to the movement of thepiston within the cylinder 4 may be employed within the scope of myinvention. p

The valve mechanism '2' involves the pro-' vision. of'a valve 8, adaptedfor reciproclat e necessary passages \in connection\wit the supply andexhaust means of thepressure medium. Movement of this valve 8 in onedirection effects the exhaust of steam from the lower side of the pistonand results in the downward movement of the latter to actuat theshear;'the subsequent return of the valve 8 to its, initial positionrestores the pressure below the piston,"moving the same upwardlyintoyits initial -position, all as substantially shown and described inthe aforesaid Letters Patent to Carroll. The specific details of theabove described apparatus form no part of my present invention, theconstruction and operation of the same being well known in rolling milltherefrom to a suitable base member or bracket 12, in which its otherend finds bear- 1ng.

as shown, although it is obvious that said shaft can be connected to anyof the other reducing rolls, or to any part of the mechanism employedfor rotating the same, without departing from the spirit of myinvention. A frictionwheel 13 is carried on the outer end of the shaft9, said wheel having a spline connection 14 with said shaft, whereby itis constrained to rotate theredisk '15, suitably journaled at 16 in thebracket 12. A shipper lever 17, slidable within a bearing fermed in saidbracket 12, engages a groove'18 formed in the hub of the friction wheel13. The other end of the shipper lever 17 is pivotally connected to alink 19 which is pivotally secured to an inat 21 to the bracket 12. Thehandle of the lever 20 is provided witha latch 22, adapted'to'beselectively engaged with the several notches in a stationary segmentalplate 23,

whereby to vary the longitudinal position" of the friction wheel 13 onthe. shaft 9. It

will be apparent that the speed at which the disk 15 is rotated isgreater or less as determined by the movement of the wheel 13 ioward orfrom the axis of rotation, of said isk. I e

The disk 15 carries on its upper face a revolution of thedisk passesbetween and electrically connects two contact pieces 25,

25, supported on a stationary plate 26 above the-disk, to complete anelectrical circuit which includes a battery 27 and a solenold 28. Theenergization of the solenoid draws its core 29 upward, carrying'with itvalve 8, by reason of being connected to the stem 30 of said valve.Almost immediately there- 7 after the solenoid is deenergized by thebreaking of the circuit whereby the valve returns by gravity to itsinitial position,

v I prefer to operatively connect the shaft, 9 with the last finishingroll of the series,-

With, but is capable of longitudinal move-'- ment thereon. The peripheryof the friction I wheel 13 is in frictional engagement with the under'side'of a horizontally disposed termediate point of a hand lever 20,pivoted finished product. 7

spring contact brush 24, which, upon eachactuating the return of theshear to the position shown in Fig. 1.

The disk 15 is provided on its periphery with an outwardly projectingshoulder or lug 31, which is adapted to be engaged by the end of a lever32, pivoted at 33, when it is desired ,to arrest the rotation of thedisk. In the full line position of the lever 32 in Fig. l, the end ofsaid lever lies in the path of the lug 31, rendering the rotation of thewheel 13 inefiective; when the lever 32 is swung into the dotted lineposition, the disk 15 is rotated by the frictional contact of the wheel13, causing the shear 3 to operate upon the moving bar at intervalspredetermined by a previous adjustment of the hand lever 20.

As shown in Fig. 2, the lug 31 is disposed slightly in advance of thespring contact brush 24, in the direction of rotation of the disk. Inthe operation of the apparatus, as the forward end of the rolled productbegins to pass between the blades of the shear 3 the operator can judgejust how much of the same should be removed as a crop end. At the propermoment,'the lever 32 is moved into its dotted line position,- andimmediately thereafter the actuation of the. shear is efiected to removethe crop end. The subsequent operations of the shear 3, in order todivide the finished product into pieces of equal length, take place 6ncefor each revolution of thedisk 15, as previously described. The lengthof the pieces into which the product is cut is determined by theadjustment of the lever 20. Obviously, since the speed of movement ofthe finished product .varies as the peripheral speed of the lastfinishing roll, the several adjustments of the lever 20 will alwaysresult in the production, in the case of each adjustment, of pieces ofequal length, irrespective of variations in the speed of the lastfinishing roll. The same holds true when the shaft 9 is driven from anyof the other reducing rolls, or from any part of the mechanism employedfor actuating the same, the rotationof which bears a fixed relation L tothe amount of forward movement of the I claim,

1. The combination with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct.- delivered from said rolls, rotating means having a speedalways in predetermined relation to the speed of said rolls forcontrollingthe operations of said shear, and means for interposing astop in the path of saidrotating means.

2. The combination, with feeding rolls, of

a shear for cutting the product delivered from said rolls, means foractuating said shear, means having a speed in predetermined relation tothe speed of movement of said product for operating said actuatingshear, a

means at predetermined intervals, and means for varying ating means.

3. The combination with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct delivered from said rolls, rotating means frictionally drivenfrom said rolls for controlling the operations of said shear whereby thesame is actuated at predetermined intervals, and means 'for preventingat will the-rotation of said last-mentioned means without disconnectingthe same from said rolls.

4. The combination, with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct delivered from said rolls, means for actuating said shaftoperatively connected with said rolls, a rotatable disk adapted to befrictionally driven from said shaft, and means actuated by the rotationof said disk for controlling said shear actuating means.

5. The combination, with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct delivered from said rolls, means for actuating said shear, arotatable disk frictionally driven from said rolls, means actuated bythe rotation of. said disk for controlling said ,shea'r actuating means,and means for holding said disk stationary, at will.

6. The combination with-feeding rolls, of

,y a shear for cuttingthej product delivered from said rolls, rotatingmeans having a speed always in predetermined relation to the speed ofsaid rolls for controlling-the operations of said shear, means for1nterposmg a stop in the path of said rotating the speed of saidopermeans, means for varying the speed of said'rotating means.

7 The combination with feeding rolls, of

a shear for cutting the product delivered from said rolls, rotatingmeans frictionally driven from said rolls for controlling the operationsof said shear whereby the same is actuated at predetermined intervals,means for preventing at will the rotation of said last-mentioned meanswithout disconnecting the same from said rolls, and

means for varying the speed of said rotating means.

8. The combination with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct delivered movement of said product for controlling theoperations of sai shear, and means for varying the speed of said lastmentioned means.

9. The combination with feeding rolls, of a shear for cutting theproduct delivered from said rolls, rotatin means for controlling theoperations 0 said shear whereby the same is actuated at predeterminedintervals, means for var ing the speed of said rotating means, an meansfor maintaining said rotating means at speeds in fixed relation to thespeed of said product. Dated this-ninth day of April, 1914.

VICTOR E.. EDWARDS. Witnesses:

WILLARD A. WINN, FRANK M. Loan.

from said rolls, means having a speed in predetermined relation to t espeed of

